There’s much more to fly fishing than tying on a fly and whipping your line around a pond. Casting, hook setting and reeling all demand a level of finesse that goes beyond what anglers experience when spin fishing. Learning how to fly fish takes practice, but with time, you’ll eventually learn what it feels like to master it. Well, at least be sufficient at it; I would argue mastery takes decades.
For those looking to break into the dry fly scene, prepare yourself to enjoy a steep yet rewarding learning curve. Below, I’ve condensed the basics of fly fishing into five important tips, each one building on the one before it to help you master the basics. Practice at your local pond or even in the backyard when you’ve got a few spare minutes, and soon enough, you’ll cast and catch with ease.
The writer lifts up a chum salmon she caught on the fly in Alaska.
Illustration: Forbes / Photo: Gabriela Zaldumbide For Forbes
Learning fly fishing basics (and acquiring the gear to do so) is no small feat. However, if you find equipment that matches your fishing style and practice casting before hitting the water you’ll, set yourself up for success. Here’s what you need to know.
Step 1: Find A Fly Rod That Fits Your Needs
Like any piece of outdoor equipment, fly rodsfly rods vary widely in price. You can pick up a used one for a few bucks at a thrift shop or online, or you can invest in a new Sage rod and reel setup for as much as a roundtrip flight overseas. But before you go shopping, identify your needs.
What kinds of fish do you plan to target? Will you fish Rocky Mountain streams or Texas’s Gulf Coast? How much are you willing to spend on a fly rod setup? The answers to these questions dictate the cost, length, weight and action type of the rod you need.
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For example, I fish western Colorado reservoirs, ponds, rivers and streams for trout six to 20 inches long. I use a 9-foot 5-weight rod with a medium action 95% of the time. I’ll use my 3-weight in beaver ponds, and I pack my 8-weight when I fly fish in Alaska. All that terminology might sound overwhelming, so let’s break it down.
Fly Rod Weights
Fly rod weight (often abbreviated to “wt”) ranges between 0 and 14, with 0 being the lightest and 14, the heaviest. The “weight” refers to the width of the rod blank—not the literal weight in pounds or ounces.
As a general guideline, 0-3 wt rods are good for very small panfish and trout. Think small bluegill or brook trout. Weights 4-6 are good for medium-sized fish, like stocked rainbow trout or largemouth bass. Weights 7-9 are for large fish, including chum salmon, northern pike or big lake trout. And finally, 10-14 wt are for monster fish and are almost exclusively used in saltwater settings.
Rod Lengths
Fly rod lengths are usually determined by the terrain near your fishing spot. When selecting a rod length, think about what overhangs your favorite river or lake. Seven-foot rods are perfect for tight, brushy streams. 10- to 12-foot rods are built for wide open waters with lots of room to cast. Versatile nine-foot rods are a happy medium; they’re not so long that they’re impossible to cast in tight spaces, but they’re long enough to propel your cast towards fish in bigger waters.
The writer fly fishes along a Rocky Mountain stream.
Gabriela Zaldumbide for Forbes
Action Types
Just like spin rods, fly rod action types come in fast, medium and slow. The action type has to do with how the rod flexes. Fast action rods bend closer to the rod’s tip, and slow actions bend about 75% of the way down a fly rod. Medium actions bend about a quarter of the way down.
Slow-action fly rods are great for beginners or anglers who fish small streams. They’re good at casting short distances, but struggle to cast a long way. Medium actions are just that: a happy medium. They strike a balance between versatility and performance, meaning they are powerful enough to help land larger and small fish while casting both short and long distances. Fast action rods are built with big fish in mind, and they can be tricky to cast. Fast actions are the go-to choice for saltwater anglers.
Step 2: Practice Casting
Before you hit the water, practice casting your fly rod. As tempting as it may be to hit the water in search of fish, take my word for it; casting is tricky until it becomes muscle memory, and it’s much more enjoyable to practice casting at home than to do so on the river among other anglers. Casting a fly rod relies on slow, methodical arm movements, properly loading the rod and managing line.
Spin rods rely on the weight of the lure at the end of the line to propel the line forward. Conversely, fly rods use the weight of the line itself to propel their lure. Learning when to load and release your line while keeping your rod tip’s path straight is key for making effective casts.
Pick Up-Lay Down Cast
The most basic and important fly rod cast, the pick up-lay down cast, has three components: the back cast, a pause and the forward cast.
To start, let about five feet of floating line out on the ground in front of you. Then, in one fluid motion, pick the rod up and sharply stop your wrist when it reaches 12 o’clock. Pause for a moment, allowing the line to completely unfurl behind you. Then, bring your wrist to 10 o’clock, allowing the line to unfurl in front of you, and lay down the fully extended line on the ground.
This 12 o’clock to 10 o’clock motion can be easily remembered by saying, “Hello? It’s for you.” Pretend you’re answering a phone, it’s for someone else and you’re handing them the phone.
Roll Cast
Rolls casts have many applications, especially in tight spaces or when fishing from a raft. While technically simple, roll casts can take practice to master.
To make a roll cast, start in the exact same position as the pick up-lay down cast. Then, bring your wrist to 12 o’clock, and the line will form a D-loop in front of you. Without making a back cast, bring your wrist to 10 o’clock, and the line will flick out, extending back into a straight line in front of you.
Double Hauling
Double hauling is the most difficult casting maneuver to learn. It’s really only necessary when trying to achieve the maximum distances your fly rod can cast, but it’s fun and looks very cool. However, any fly angler will tell you to master the other two casts before attempting to learn to double haul.
To double haul, perform a pick up lay down cast, but pull on the line with your non-dominant hand during specific moments to help your rod store potential energy. Pull down on the back cast, and pull down again on your forward cast. However, each pull needs to be perfectly timed, so you are “hauling” the line while your rod is loaded. A very common mistake is to seek out more power with your rod hand, not your line hand, which will destroy your setup upon casting.
Honestly, it’s easier to see than to explain; Orvis has a great tutorial that explains this technique. And Lefty Kreh has a playful explanation about double hauling as well.
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Simms Freestone Wading Boots
Casting Clinics And Drills
If fly rod casting clinics are available near you, sign up for one. It’s far easier to learn to cast in person with a certified casting instructor than to read about it online. However, if online info is all you have, here are some tips I learned in my casting clinic.
First, learn a few casting drills. Start by holding your new fly rod straight out in front of you with its tip facing away. Then, smoothly pivot your arm at the elbow to the left, keeping the rod tip’s path as straight as possible. Carefully watch the line change directions in front of you. The line should be fully extended to the left now. Then, pivot your hand all the way to the right. Watch the line swing out horizontally to the right. Continue for a few minutes until you feel familiar with the way your line moves.
Next, do the same exact drill, but keep the line in the air the entire time. Pivot left, then pivot right, watching the line fold over itself gracefully as it switches directions. When you’ve got a handle on fluidly moving your line back and forth, “climb the ladder,” bringing your line higher into the air and back down in a controlled way.
When you feel comfortable climbing the ladder, switch to casting along with the “hello, it’s for you” phrase. Watch for tailing loops, line tangles and other casting errors.
You can take it up a notch by attaching a colored string to the end of your line and placing hula hoops 10, 20 and 30 yards away from you. Build up your accuracy by placing the string in the hula hoop.
The writer walks along a river in Colorado, ready to fly fish.
Gabriela Zaldumbide For Forbes
Step 3: Research Your Local Waters
Before you think about filling your fly box, drive down to the water you plan to fish. Poke around under the rocks, inspect the plants and look for other debris in the water. What kind of water bugs do you see? Are there bugs in the air, too? Take a photo of them, or make a note about how big they are and what they look like. Then, armed with this newfound entomological information, shop for flies that look like the real bugs.
You can take your research up a notch by seining. Seining is using a very finely meshed net to collect bugs. You can purchase a seining net for less than $20, or you can wrap any old fine mesh around your fishing net.
When your seining net is ready, step into the water and face downriver. Set your net into the water by your feet, and repetitively step in and out of the muck, kicking up junk with each foot. The river’s flow will carry any bugs straight into your net. When you think you’ve gathered enough evidence, carefully lift up your net and take a seat on the shore. Examine your findings, and purchase your flies accordingly. If you start to feel really passionate about seining, pick up an aquatic bug identification book.
Step 4: Select Your Flies
After completing your local research, head to the fly shop. Purchase a few flies that look like what you saw in the river, and make sure to pick up a couple of each one. If one fly bites better than the others, you’re going to want a back-up one in your fly box in case the first one breaks off.
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There are a few flies that are good to use in any water during any time of the year. Wooly buggers, worms, stimulators, nymphs and mayfly emergers are great flies to keep in your back pocket. Chat with the clerk at your fly shop to learn what sizes and colors of these flies work best in your area.
Additionally, while you have the clerk’s attention, ask about which flies are biting. The shop likely keeps an up-to-date list of which flies are performing best in specific bodies of water.
Step 5: Set Up Your Rod
From the tip of the rod to the reel, you’ll need tippet, leader, float line and backing.
You won’t get into your backing every time you catch a fish, but it’s important for hard fights and big-running fish. Brightly colored floating line is critical for casting and presenting your fly. Additionally, some folks who fish nymphs and streamers frequently use dark-colored sinking line instead. Because it’s heavier than floating line, sinking line can be harder to cast. But it’s far better for presenting wet flies than floating line.
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Leader attaches directly to the floating line. It’s a clear, synthetic string that commonly ranges between 7.5 to 12 feet in length and 8x to 0x in size. The lower the number, the thicker the leader. For example, I usually use 4x or 5x to fish for Colorado trout. Like rod length, short leaders are good for brushy areas, and long leaders are great for wide open water. Most leaders are tapered, which helps with realistic presentations.
Tippet helps your leader last longer. Tie about a foot of tippet onto the end of your leader using a double surgeon’s or blood knot. Before you attach it, make sure it’s the same size or one size smaller than your leader. Then, tie your flies onto your tippet using a clinch or improved clinch knot. If you’re fishing a streamer, tie a loop knot.
When you clip flies off and tie on new ones, you’ll use a little bit of leader each time. When your tippet is almost gone, cut it off at the end of your leader and tie one a new piece.
Additionally, if you get caught up in the willows or a fish snaps the end of your tippet, it’s likely your leader is still attached. You won’t have to use an entirely new leader; you’ll just have to replace the tippet on the end of your line.
Hemostats are great for gently removing flies.
Gabriela Zaldumbide For Forbes
Step 6: Put It All Together
When you’re ready to go fly fishing, it’s time to put all the skills you’ve learned together.
Assemble your fly rod in the parking lot, keeping an eye on the water if you can. While you thread your line through your rod’s guides, notice whether or not fish are rising. If they are, tie on a dry fly according to the bugs you’ve noticed in the air. If not, tie on a nymph that resembles a water bug you noticed during your seining research.
When your rod’s set and your bag is packed, approach the water slowly. You don’t want to spook the fish before you get your first cast in. Identify a place in the water where you spot fish activity. Seams, shady places, eddies, riffles, shallow water, along shorelines and behind rocks or other features are great places to look for fish.
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Fishpond Summit Sling Pack
Move downstream of the feeding fish. Then, cast your rod upstream, just like you practiced, and allow the fly to land in the water naturally several feet in front of the fish. This will help trick the fish into thinking your fly is just another bug floating downstream.
If the fish eats your fly, count to one Mississippi, and then set the hook upstream. You don’t want to accidentally pull the fly straight out of the fish’s mouth. Then, fight the fish accordingly.
Keep the rod bent and angled in a way that keeps pressure on the fish. If the fish can swim away from you too easily, tighten the drag on your reel. There should be some resistance against the swimming fish. If the fish comes closer to you, reel in, shortening the distance between you. While keeping your cool, net the fish as quickly as you can.
Catching your first fish on the fly is extremely exciting. Try to remember to keep the fish wet, reduce handling time and unhook it quickly before you snap a picture. Take a net pic or carefully hold the fish in front of you for a few seconds. Decide if you’re going to keep it or release it. If you’re going to release it, gently hold it in the water, letting water flow through its gills, and let it calmly swim away.
Rinse and repeat until it’s time to go home.
Why Trust Forbes Vetted
Forbes Vetted expertly researched fishing and hunting articles offer top-of-the-line guidance and product recommendations.
Forbes Vetted contributor Gabriela Zaldumbide is an avid recreational fly angler and even worked as a fly fishing guide for two years. She’s been reviewing fishing gear for three years.
Gear editor Cam Vigliotta oversaw the creation of this guide. He uses his insights from testing countless outdoor products to ensure the quality of our gear guides.
Gabriela has landed over 20 species with her fly rods, including remote Alaskan salmon. As a self-taught fly angler, she knows exactly what it takes to get started.
This guide will be updated for freshness and accuracy regularly. It was originally published on TK and will be updated as necessary.
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